The Tribune

Crime seems to confound the people of this country. It happens, and often. When crime is reported, people shake their heads, grumble, and start blaming. The young people, the mothers (never the fathers), and, for more often than one might expect, the victims. Hands are thrown in the air, accompanied by exclamations that it is too far gone, there is nothing to be done, it will never get any better. At the end of the year, everyone bemoans the murder count. At the start of another year, everyone is shocked by the first murders that occur in January. There are calls for the government to do something about it. Maybe we get a statement or two, but we usually do not see a real plan. Is this year any different?

Commission of Police says the Bail Act needs to be amended because some people charged with serious crimes were out on bail within two or three months. The Attorney General says there is nothing wrong with the Bail Act, and suggests that the prosecution and judges need to do a better job. The Minister of National Security says the public needs to help law enforcement. The police and the anti-rights group met with gang members and tried to pose questions, as though there is a relationship or any degree of trust between them, considering their broadcasted positions. The prime minister called for a national day of prayer (which, of course, received an enthusiastic support and was immediately actioned, unlike other, more practical and productive recommendations). These people, who all know each other well and are largely a part of the same administration do not seem to speak to each other on the issue of crime, much less agree on what needs to happen. Even the Opposition, in its tantrum, failed to articulate even a part of a plan. Everyone, it seems, is lost.

By now, we should know that there is no quick fix for crime.

When we talk about many issues, including crime, an argument that is often brought is that “we can’t expect the government to do everything.” What we see happening around us and what is reported in the news is all related to what the government does and does not do. We have expectations of the government that are largely based on what political parties promise when they want to win leadership in general elections. Other factors that shape our expectations include taxation and what we understand to be public goods and services. Public goods and services benefit all members of society, provided “free”—funded through taxation. They include education, healthcare, infrastructure, law enforcement, and parks. Individuals do not need to and would not be able to purchase them. This is one of the main purposes of the government. There are significant issues with public goods and services in this country, and this is not separate from the scourge of crime which is, obviously, linked to poverty.

We can look at just one public good as an example. The education system is not producing the informed, engaged, confident citizens we need. Civic education is severely lacking. Life skills are not being taught, so people are leaving school, at 17 and 18 years of age, without knowing how to open a bank account, how to write a resume and cover letter, what the voting process is like, or how to properly put on a condom. There are nationwide complaints, every year, about the D average in the BGCSEs and there seems to be no analysis of the examinations, especially against the curriculum, and what is actually covered in different schools—because it varies from one school to another. There must be numerous factors that are contributing to this effect.

Some schools are not comfortable environments, some schools lack proper equipment, some students need specific interventions, some home situations affect the ability of students to study, complete assignments, and even pay attention during the school day. Schools are a great place to begin to get an understanding of Bahamian society and what is happening in households. We have been, for years, missing the opportunity to be attentive and responsive to students and their needs, and to appropriately intervene where there are pressing issues including poverty, violence, mental health challenges, and specific learning needs. Instead, students—who are still children—are judged, and harshly.

We already know that young people are targeted by gangs, and early. They have needs that seem to be more obvious to gang members than they are to teachers and other people around them, so those needs are leveraged. They come to believe that they need the protection and supplication that gangs say they can provide. Some young people have said that it is next to impossible to avoid being recruited. This is one of the reasons that some families struggle to do certain things that outsiders see as living beyond their means, from sending their children to private schools to buying a cars to drop and pick them up so they do not have to walk which increases the chances of them being approached. Already, there are layers here to peel back. From education to gang recruitment to low income to debt to judgment.

We can easily connect the education issue with the employment issue.

Upon completion of high school, whether or not it is with a diploma, many young people need to find a job. What is available to them is often limited. Minimum wage jobs can even be difficult to come by, and when one is secured, the young person has to figure out how they can live on that level of income. If it is a night job, how will they get to and from? If they have a child, because they never had comprehensive sexuality education which includes information on contraception, they have to budget for food, diapers, and other necessities. If they live at home, they have to contribute to bills, or the bills may be almost entirely their own responsibility due to other circumstances.

We can make the connection, now, to social services. It should be common knowledge that the assistance provided by social services is nowhere near enough. We have seen news stories on women living in cars with the children, people displaced by Hurricane Dorian, and people whose homes were demolished. Different people get different levels and types of support. Some may have family to call on. Some may get the attention of an organization that can assist. Some may be lucky to find a job that pays a living wage. Some may have savings. Some, without a doubt, become involved in criminal activity.

It would be too general to say that people blame families for both poverty and the criminal activities of individuals. The blame is not generally laid on parents either, but on mothers. Even when references are made to parents and families, it is implied that women are responsible for raising children and, even further, policing their adult children. Women and families, unfortunately, do not receive the support that would enable them to do all of the work that is expected of them to build a nation.

Some women engage in sex work which, it must be noted, is not limited to the outright buying and selling of sex, but the transactional relationships that enable many, many families in The Bahamas to eat. This may sometimes result in an unwanted pregnancy. All women are not able to access abortion due to the criminalization and cost, so many are forced to seek unsafe abortions or to have unwanted children they cannot afford. Having more children than one can afford is not looked at kindly by the general public, largely made up of people who would not and do not show up of for the protection of sexual and reproductive rights, bodily autonomy, and the right to chose. Paid maternity leave is only granted under certain circumstances, so some women have to forgo leave or forgo pay. You may not like that sex work is work, and you may not like that abortion is, in fact, healthcare; these are the facts. Gender issues are connected to economic issues.

The economic situation in The Bahamas dictates that, in most households, both people in a relationship have to work. This does not leave much room for direct engagement with and supervision of children. This is especially true and challenging where tourism is the number one industry, and requiring work around the clock which means many people must work shifts. Everyone does not live a 9-to-5 life. What does this mean for children after school? It is important to remember that millennials do not have the luxury of leaving their children with their own parents because they, too, are still working. Who is supposed to step in? How do we keep ourselves from raising little criminals when we do not have the quality time to spend at home during their waking hours?

These are the issues that we need to discuss. They may seem heavy, deep, or rabbit-hole-like, but they are closely connected with the issue at hand. There is no quick fix for crime. Capital punishment may be fun for some to say, but it is against international human rights standards and, perhaps more importantly to those proposing or thinking about it, it is not effective. Gun fights, going to jail and coming out to seek retribution, murdering people while on bail and the like do not suggest the fear of death or repercussions of the act that is being assumed of murderers. Punishment is not prevention. It is what happens, if the law enforcement and court systems work, after the crime is committed. It is something, but it is not everything. It cannot be the solution. There is work to do outside of the punishment. It begins with assessing, repairing, and building systems, ensuring that they work for people—not for political parties or other institutions. It also begins with us, looking at our own behavior, our own complicity, and our own responsibility to do better.

Yes, we need changes in law. Yes, we need policies. Yes, we need a national development plan. Yes, we need short-term interventions. None of that will solve this problem without a longterm plan, properly executed, that engages with government-controlled systems that we depend on, whether or not we actively use them.

Recommendations

• Join the Women’s Wednesday’s session on eating well with health coach Ashley Foulkes-Moss at 6pm. Equality Bahamas will be in conversation with her about nutrition, dieting, setting realistic goals, prioritizing health, and enjoying food. Register at tiny.cc/wweatwell.

• Join Feminist Book Club, hosting by Equality Bahamas and Poinciana Paper Press. The first meeting this year will be held on Wednesday, February 21 at 6pm, both in-person at Poinciana Paper Press at 12 Parkgate Road and online. Blind Days by Ian Chinaka Strachan and Citizen by Claudia Rankine will be discussed at that meeting. Register at tiny.cc/fbc2024.